Pennsylvania's next Attorney General
Pennsylvania Democrats are poised to win an office that has eluded them for years. Since the Attorney General office became an elected position in 1980, PA DEMS have never won that office. EVER! Now fast forward 32 years later in 2012 they're on the cusp of doing so with Kathleen Kane as there nominee. Shall she win, not only she will be the first Democrat to hold that office, but the first woman elected. Why Kathleen Kane is poised to win the Attorney General race you might ask? Well it's simple, Jerry Sandusky. Unfortunately for Tom Corbett that name will hover over him for the rest of his life, and surely will cost him a second term in 2014. Likely to former Congressman, and Ret. Admiral Joe Sestak. Corbett could be the first one term Governor in Pennsylvania in Decades! When the Sandusky scandal broke out in November of 2011, it showed how incompetent of a Attorney General Corbett was, and reinforcing of how bad of a Governor he's been. Pennsylvanians till this day have not forgiven Corbett on how he handled that case when he was Attorney General. Kane has been constant on efforts to combat child sexual abuse as a major theme in her campaign, particularly in the light of the Jerry Sandusky case. That's pretty much why she's poised to win.
With less than six weeks left to go, Kane has been constantly out polling and out fundraising Corbett's handpicked choice David Freed. It's no wonder why they're going dirty in the closing weeks, and trying to save what chance Freed has left. This past weekend a national group aimed at electing Republican state officials unleashed an attack ad against Kathleen Kane, in the Philly media markets. The ad claimed that Kane, a prosecutor with the Lackawanna County district attorney's office, is soft on rapists because a "weak plea deal" she made on a rape case was rejected by the judge due to the brutality of the crime and age of the victim. The ad is very hard-hitting of any so far this cycle, depicting a teenage girl being abducted by someone in a white van.
The ad says “Kane also went soft on a rapist of a 16-year old, who was released and later assaulted two more women,” The ad was not only disgusting, but it was blatantly false, and they had to take it down. The father of the alleged rape victim himself came out against that ad in defense of Kane.
“The advertisement says that Kathleen Kane made a plea bargain in a rape case that a judge says wasn’t tough enough. I know that’s a lie, because it was my daughter that was the victim in the case,” he wrote in a letter provided by the Kane campaign.
“This advertisement is offensive to me and to my family. I’d like to ask the people who made this outrageous advertisement if they would like their daughter’s tragic story all over television.”
“As a father who has seen his family go through too much pain already, I am asking Dave Freed and the people who made this offensive advertisement to take it off the air immediately.”
The RSLC, the GOP group which release the ad said it will
replace the ad with another ad that criticizes Kane for having claimed to prosecute more cases than she has.
The father also added "If they can't convince people to vote for him without lying, he should not even be running". Referring to David Freed.
Kane had nothing to do with that case. Which the victim father acknowledge as well as the 1st Assistant Lackawanna County District Attorney Gene Talerico, who supervised Kane went on to say
“I can unequivocally state that Kathleen Kane had no involvement in the plea deal or the sentencing in that matter,” Talerico wrote. “Kathleen Kane’s only involvement in the matter was an administrative function with the signing of the criminal information document setting forth the charges.”
Yet through out all the attacks that have been thrown her way, including the kitchen sink, she's still in a very favorable position to win. Considering the fact that President Obama and Senator Casey are overwhelming favorites in Pennsylvania, and will win in the state by double digits. This Attorney General in Pennsylvania is probably the most competitive race in the state. The PA GOP has a lot at stake in this race. Keagan Gibson from
PolicticsPA I think hit the nail on the head with this quote.
"GOP operatives almost universally identify the AG contest as the 2012 campaign most prioritized by Gov. Tom Corbett, himself the immediate past AG. Republicans have held the office since it first became an elected position in 1980. If Kane, a Democrat, were to win the position and make old files public, it could mean renewed criticism about Corbett’s handling of everything from the Bonusgate investigation to the Sandusky case."
He's damn right. There's no doubt a Kane victory is probably not only detrimental to Corbett, but to the Republican Party of Pennsylvania. Giving the Pennsylvania voting trends especially in the eastern part of the state in and around the Philadelphia area, it's becoming more and more Democratic. Corbett is already unpopular. Since 1970, Pennsylvania has a tradition of having an 8 year window between parties. Democrats in the Governor's mansion for 8 years, Republicans in there for the next 8, and so forth. If Kane wins, and more stuff is released then Tom Corbett will be a one termer. It will take years for Republicans in the state to wash the stench of Corbett off of them.
Democrats are likely to win the other statewide offices this year. But both parties know that this AG race is very important. A Kane win doesn't bode well for Corbett in 2014, as well as Toomey in 2016. Being up for reelection right after a potential Corbett defeat. In which he will be very vulnerable, especially in a presidential year. He barely getting over 50 percent in the best year for Republicans since ever in 2010, shows that Pennsylvania is very much still a blue state and not a swing state. So when I'm watching the returns on Election Day in Pennsylvania, it will be for the AG race.